Display device with USB connectivity

ABSTRACT

A method to power an electronic device through an electrical connection port of a display device, includes electrically connecting a display device to a first power source of a host capable of controlling the display device by control signals therefrom, and a second power source independent from the host, the control signals indicating statuses of the host, each of the status comprising a normal mode, a power-saving mode, or a power off mode, and powering the electronic device electrically connected to the display device through the electrical connection port thereof by means of using one of the first and second power sources based on the control signals transmittable from the host to the display device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/203,340, filed on Aug. 12, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,451,328, issuedon Nov. 11, 2008.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to display devices, and particularly to adisplay device with built-in USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports.

2. Description of the Related Art

Most computers are now configured with USB ports; the USB ports allowthe computers to communicate with external USB devices.

The power pins of the USB ports provide approximately +5V voltage.Recently, computers have been used to power or even charge externaldevices by utilizing the USB ports. The power supplied to an externaldevice is typically obtained from internal components of the hostcomputer. For example, a USB port, built into a display device of acomputer, can supply power to or charge a connected USB device. However,the power supplied to the external device is practicable only when thehost computer is in a normal working mode. Once the host enters into apower-saving mode or is powered off, the power supply to the externaldevice is immediately cut off.

However, most display devices have their own power supply independentfrom the host computer. As such, these display devices have thepotential ability to power external devices.

Therefore, there is a need for a display device with a USB port, wherebywhen a corresponding host computer is in a power-saving or power offmode, the display device can power or charge any connected USB devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above-mentioned and other problems, a display device withUSB connectivity (hereinafter “the display device) is provided. Thedisplay device includes a power module and one or more USB ports. Thepower module has batteries embedded therein as a power source or isconnected to an external power source to obtain power therefrom. The USBports have power pins through which the power module powers or evencharge external USB devices. The display device further includes aswitching circuit which positioned between the power module and the USBports, to establish or cut off a connection between the power module andthe USB ports, and a controller which controls the switching circuit tobe on or be off, to establish or cut off the connection between thepower module and the USB ports accordingly. The controller may be adisplay device which controls the switching circuit in accordance with acurrent status of a host, or a button, which controls the switchingcircuit in accordance with manual operations of a user.

Further, a computer system which includes a display device with USBconnectivity is also provided. The computer system further includes ahost. The host has a plurality of statuses, including a normal mode, aplurality of power-saving modes and a power off mode. The display deviceincludes a power module, a display controller, a switching circuit, anOR gate circuit, and one or more USB ports. The USB ports have powerpins, which selectively couple the power module or the host to externalUSB devices to power or charge the USB devices. The OR gate circuitselectively couples the power pins with the power module or with thehost. The display device detects what status the host stands, andcontrols the switching circuit on or off to establish or cut off aconnection between the power module and the USB ports, in accordancewith the status of the host.

One of the advantages of the present invention is, in spite of whatstatus the host may be in, whether a normal mode, a power-saving mode ora power off mode, after being connected to the display device via theUSB ports of the display device, external USB devices are able to obtainpower from the host or from the display device.

Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from thefollowing detailed description when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a display device with at least onebuilt-in USB port, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, together with a USB device which can interconnectwith the display device via the USB port; and

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing how the display device with thebuilt-in USB port of FIG. 1 powers the USB device via the USB port, inaccordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view showing a display device with one or morebuilt-in USB ports (hereinafter “the display device”) in accordance witha preferred embodiment of the present invention, together with a USBdevice which can connect with the display device via any one of the USBports. The display device 20 may be a CRT (cathode ray tube), an LCD(liquid crystal display), or any other type of display apparatus knownin the art. The USB ports 207 (only one is shown in FIG. 1) may bepositioned in any suitable part of the display device 20, such as on afront panel or a rear panel of the display device 20. Appropriatepositioning facilitates users in connecting the USB device 30 with thedisplay device 20. In FIG. 1, an exemplary USB device 30 is shown asbeing a mobile phone.

The USB devices 30 may be coupled to the display device 20 directly, orvia an intermediate apparatus. For example, the coupling may be via ahub which can expand the number of USB devices 30 to be connected to thedisplay device 20 when needed, or via charging cables. The USB devices30 are not to be construed as being limited to mobile phones, asillustrated in FIG. 1. On the contrary, the USB devices 30 may includeall manner of various suitable electronic devices. Such electronicdevices have one or more USB plugs 301, or are configured with chargingcables or chargers that have a USB plug 301. Examples include mobilephones, MP3 (MPEG, audio layer 3) players, notebooks, PDAs (PersonalDigital Assistants), and so on.

The USB devices 30 may be equipped with one or more embedded secondarybatteries if needed. When equipped with embedded secondary batteries,and connected with the display device 20, the USB devices 30 not onlyobtain power from the display device 20, but also synchronously chargethe embedded secondary batteries via charging circuits thereof.Generally, a standard USB port 207 provides (5±5%)V voltage and 100˜500mA current, which are sufficient to power and charge most USB devices 30and their embedded secondary batteries. Otherwise, an additional adaptoris needed to adjust the voltage and current obtained from the USB port207, in order to obtain a particular power level that is required bysome specific USB devices 30.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing how the display device 20 powers aUSB device 30 via a USB port 207, in accordance with the preferredembodiment of the present invention. The display device 20 interconnectswith a host 10, which together constitute a computer system 1. Thedisplay device 20 includes at least one power module 201, a displaycontroller 202, a switching circuit 203, an adapting apparatus 204, anOR gate circuit 205, and the USB port 207. The power module 201 powersall components of the display device 20. Further, when necessary, thepower module 201 can power the USB device 30 in addition to powering thecomponents of the display device 20. The power module 201 can supply thepower from an intrinsic power source, (i.e., embedded batteries,) orfrom an external power source.

The switching circuit 203 is series-connected between the power module201 and the adapting apparatus 204. The switching circuit 203 has twoinput terminals and one output terminal. The input terminals arerespectively connected to the power module 201 and the displaycontroller 202, and the output terminal is connected to the adaptingapparatus 204. The display controller 202 is connected to the host 10,and receives video signals from the host 10 via a video interface (notshown). The video interface can, for example, be a VGA (video graphicsarray) interface or a DVI (display visual interface) interface. Based onthe state of video signals it receives, the display controller 202determines what status the host stands in, and controls the switchingcircuit 203 on or off accordingly. Typically, the status can be a normalmode, a power-saving mode, or a power off mode. In the preferredembodiments, when the host 10 is detected to be in a power off mode or apower-saving mode, the display controller 202 controls the switchingcircuit 203 to be on, whereupon the power module 201 supplies power tothe adapting apparatus 204 via the switch circuit 203. When the host 10is detected to be in a normal mode, that is, the host 10 is in a normalworking status, the display controller 202 controls the switch circuit203 to be off, so as to stop the supply of power from the power module201 to the adapting apparatus 204. The switching circuit 203 may includeone or more transistors, or any other suitable switches that can switchon and off under the control of the display controller 202, whereby thesupply of power from the power module 201 to the adapting apparatus 204is either passed or blocked.

The adapting apparatus 204 is coupled to the USB port 207 via the ORgate circuit 205. The OR gate circuit 205 has two input terminals andone output terminal. The input terminals are respectively connected withthe adapting apparatus 204 and the host 10. The output terminal isconnected with a power pin (designated as 4 d in FIG. 2) of the USB port207. With such a connection, the OR gate circuit 205 selectively couplesthe adapting apparatus 204 or the host 10 to the USB port 207.Accordingly, the source of power for the USB device 30 is either thepower module 201 or the host 10. In the preferred embodiment, if thehost 10 is powered off or in a power-saving mode, the display controller202 controls the switching circuit 203 to conduct current. Then a firstpower path is established, which includes the power module 201, theswitching circuit 203, the adapting apparatus 204, the OR gate circuit205 and the USB port 207. If the host 10 is in a normal mode, thedisplay controller 202 controls the switching circuit 203 to cut off.Thus the first power path is correspondingly cut off. Then a secondpower path is established, which includes the host 10 and the USB port207 adopted to transmit power to the USB device 30. In the preferredembodiment, all of pins 4 a, 4 b, 4 c (i.e., excluding the power pin 4d) of the USB port 207 are directly coupled to the host 10. These otherpins, including one ground pin (designated as 4 a) and two data pins(designated as 4 b, and 4 c), are directly coupled to the host 10. Thusthe USB device 30 is able to exchange data with the host 10 whenreceiving power from the host 10.

The OR gate circuit 205 may include two parallel-connected diodes ortransistors or any other suitable elements, such as a chip with afirmware program, which implement the function of selectively couplingthe adapting apparatus 204 or the host 10 to the USB port 207. Theadapting apparatus 204 includes a transformer (not shown), and convertsthe voltage and current from the power module 201 to match the USB port207. Furthermore, the adapting apparatus 204 may also include acurrent-limiting apparatus to limit the current output, and ashort-circuit protection circuit to protect the display device 20. Inaddition, instead of being placed between the switching circuit 203 andthe OR gate circuit 205, in other embodiments, the adapting apparatus204 may be positioned between the OR gate circuit 205 and the USB port207, or in any other suitable place.

The display controller 202 controls the switching circuit 203 on or offin accordance with the current status of the host 10. In the preferredembodiment, the statuses of the host are defined pursuant to ACPI(Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) specifications, which wereco-developed by Hewlett-Packard (HP®), Intel (Intel®), Microsoft(Microsoft®), Phoenix (Phoenix®), and Toshiba (Toshiba®). The displaycontroller 202 detects what status the host 10 stands in. If the host 10is in any one of the power-saving modes, or in a power off mode, thedisplay controller 202 controls the switching circuit 203 to be on.Meanwhile, the OR gate circuit 205 electrically couples the adaptingapparatus to the USB port 207. The first power path conducts, and theUSB device 30 is powered or even charged by the power module 201. If thehost 10 is in a normal mode, the display controller 202 controls theswitching circuit 203 to be off. Accordingly, the OR gate circuit 205electrically couples the host 10 to the USB port 207. The second powerpath conducts, and the USB device 30 is powered or even charged by thehost 10.

The above description illustrates that the switching circuit 203 iscontrolled by the display controller 202. However, in anotherembodiment, the switching circuit 203 can be manually controlled by auser via a button (not shown) installed on the display device 20. Thebutton electrically controls the switching circuit 203 according toknown technology. This gives the user the discretion to select thedisplay device 20 as a power source of the USB device 30, even if thehost 10 is in a normal mode.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerouscharacteristics and advantages of the present embodiments have been setforth in the foregoing description, together with details of thestructures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure isillustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially inmatters of type and arrangement of components within the principles ofthe invention to the full extent indicated by general meaning of theterms in which the appended claims are expressed.

1. A method to power an electronic device through an electricalconnection port of a display device, comprising the steps of:electrically connecting a display device to a first power source of ahost capable of controlling said display device by control signalstherefrom, and a second power source independent from said host, thecontrol signals indicating statuses of the host, each of the statuscomprising a normal mode, a power-saving mode, or a power off mode;powering the electronic device electrically connected to said displaydevice through the electrical connection port thereof using said firstpower source if said control signals indicating that said host is in thenormal mode; and powering the electronic device electrically connectedto said display device through the electrical connection port thereofusing said second power source if said control signals indicating thatsaid host is in the power-saving mode or in the power off mode.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the electrical connection port ofthe display device is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, and at leastone switching circuit in response to said control signals is used toselect one of said first and second power sources in said powering step.3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second power source is apower module of the display device.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein the control signals are video signals from the host.
 5. Themethod according to claim 4, wherein a state of the video signalsindicates which of the statuses the host stands.